Dear Alligator Editors:
In your opinion piece published on March 31, titled “What does it mean to do it ‘For the Kids,’” you questioned the incredible Dance Marathon fundraising effort led by UF students, which annually generates millions of dollars that stay local to support UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital.
While we’re disappointed you didn’t reach out to UF Health for clarification, I’m happy to respond with facts that support the accurate completion of your reporting.
Let me confirm and validate how important Dance Marathon is to our patients and their families. The program supports our mission to provide the best possible medical care for pediatric patients from neonates to older kids, advance science through discovery and train the next generation of medical professionals.
Hundreds of UF students work tirelessly year-round to share stories of our youngest patients who face life-threatening conditions, to raise awareness about childhood illness and to request community support. They’re passionate advocates for children’s health. I’ve been involved with UF Dance Marathon for eight years, and I’ve never known such committed and selfless young people galvanized to help others.
The inspiring ambassador patients and families involved in Dance Marathon hope to help others. They represent the nearly 10,000 inpatients we treat every year in more than 20 medical specialties and subspecialties at UF Health.
Of total CMN funds raised each year for the children’s hospital, approximately 48% supports medical research, 42% supports patient care and 10% supports education for pediatric hospital patients.
Specifically in fiscal year 2018, $9.8 million was raised for our local CMN thanks to Dance Marathons, local partners and corporate sponsors and events.
Of this amount, $3.9 million was awarded to the UF College of Medicine department of pediatrics for pediatric research. There are currently about 50 CMN-funded pediatric research projects underway focused on neonates, children and young adults. Examples of the awards include projects involving diabetes, gene therapy, neuromedicine, multiple sclerosis, oncology, pharmacogenetics, psychosocial issues, sickle cell, stem cell science and transplantation.
Patient care and education funding included about $846,000 provided for recurring programmatic support. An example is funding for the Child Life team. Any family who has spent considerable time in the hospital with their son or daughter can tell you how these specially trained and certified staff help kids and families navigate the stress and anxiety of hospitalization. Lifesaving technology and critical medical equipment is also funded. Examples included the purchase additional compression garments for our regional Burn Center, support for the pediatric bereavement support program and a project to provide special needs car seats to families. About $3.2 million funded capital items like renovations to our pediatric infusion center, the purchase of an ambulance to support the children’s E.R., the purchase of pediatric OR heart/lung machines and the purchase of specialized pediatric beds. A recent purchase was medical equipment that supports our Berlin Heart program. This is a device that sustains the hearts of critically ill children with end-stage heart failure who are awaiting a transplant. Last fall, CMN funds also purchased a new pediatric catheterization ultrasound system for our UF Health Congenital Heart Center.
Visit https://giving.ufhealth.org/category/gift-at-work/ to see some detailed examples of how philanthropic dollars are spent on specific projects.
The infusion center funding is an example of a multi-year program for which part of a year’s funding may be saved for a future expenditure. One of the greatest clinical-translational science teams of my generation is right here at UF Health — Dr. Duane Mitchell’s pediatric immunotherapy team. Faculty neuro experts in this program are determined to improve treatment for children with brain cancer. Dance Marathon’s support for the renovation and expansion of the pediatric infusion unit noted above, benefits kids who require chemotherapy. Another great example is CMN and Dance Marathon funding for Dr. Mark Bleiweis and our UF Health Congenital Heart Center team, who have the nation’s best survival rates for pediatric heart surgery patients.
Any family whose child receives care in a CMN-supported children’s hospital will see CMN signs and stickers everywhere, noting what equipment and resources have been made possible through generous donor support. Ask a pediatric research or clinical faculty member, a children’s hospital nurse or provider or one of our pediatric support teams about CMN and I bet they’ll tell you what an incredible impact this support makes to our patients and our staff. Ask a family member whose child has had life-saving treatment in our hospital, or someone who once was a pediatric patient and who now supports CMN, and they will also attest to the significance of these efforts.
As always, we’re available if you need additional facts required to deliver accountable news reporting.
In closing, this is what it means when we say we’re working “For the Kids.” The more than 100 positive comments posted to your opinion piece in the day following its release also attest to how and why kids treated in the hospital benefit from this philanthropic funding. I’m proud and honored to work at one of the greatest children’s hospitals in the country. Our UF Dance Marathon teams past and present and our generous supporters support pediatric health care through DM and CMN.
It’s great to be a Florida Gator!
Edward Jimenez is the Chief Executive Officer at UF Health Shands.
